


A Mutual Understanding

by Gabethebabe



Category: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: AKA, Gen, Meeting the Parents, Overprotective Parents, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, intimidating but overall wonderful thetis, nervous boyfriend patroclus, no. 1 mom thetis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 12:13:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8143606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabethebabe/pseuds/Gabethebabe
Summary: He shrunk under her gaze, but despite his fear he found himself saying “Your daughter is her own person. With- uh- all do respect, ma’am. She choose to date me of her own free will.” “We all make mistakes.” Thetis returned, her tone cold and dismissive.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I heard y'all like trans headcanons, so have a short little "meet the parent" au. Right now trans boy Patroclus/either trans girl or NB or Genderfluid Achilles is my reason for getting out of bed in the morning, so I figured I would use what little free time I had this semester to crank out a short little ficlet. 
> 
> Written very quickly and edited even quicker. Please forgive any mistakes I have made ^^'

Patroclus’ legs bounced up and down as he sat across from Thetis. He hoped she couldn't tell how nervous he really was. 

 

Thetis glared at Patroclus and wished that there weren’t a table keeping them apart. She could read him like a book. 

 

Between them sat a heavy silence, and it was all Patroclus could do to not have some sort of nervous breakdown under the woman’s unnerving gaze. In that moment, and not for the first time, Thetis reminded him of a lioness defending her cubs against a hunter. He wanted to tell her that he was no hunter, nor could he ever possess the will or ability to put her child in harms way, but he found it impossible to say anything that wouldn't sound desperate or pathetic. 

 

After what seemed like an eternity, Thetis broke the silence.  

 

“You seem scared. Nervous.” She observed, her voice was void off all emotions except maybe disgust. 

 

“I- I am sorry. I am very nervous about meeting you, because I know how much you mean to-” Patroclus tried, but before he could finish stammering out his words he was interrupted. 

 

“Only the guilty should be so nervous.” Her words were as sharp and scary as her appearance. Did she truly think him guilty? And if so, of what? 

 

“I do not-” He paused for a brief moment, flustered “I don't think I am guilty of anything, ma’am.” His voice failed him. It cracked due to his stress, and he felt like a 12 year old all over again. “I would never hurt-” 

 

“Your guilt is for me to decide.” She bared her teeth, and Patroclus imagine a lion’s roar would follow it. The thought did not help his fear. He felt the walls of her foyer closing in on him. 

 

“Of- of course. Yes.” He nodded quickly, eyes averting down at his lap. It frightened him how much she reminded him of his father in the way she commanded both his fear and his desire to impress. “My apologies, ma’am.” 

 

For a moment, he thought he saw her face soften, only to tighten back up into a glare again. She tapped her nails on the glass table between them, sinewy pale fingers moving like a Black Widow’s legs. It brought a chill to his spin. 

 

This silence, punctuated by her fingernails clacking against the tabletop, was far worse than the first in Patroclus’ opinion, and by this point he was sure he would be crushed to death under the weight of her unwielding gaze. 

 

“In my personal experience, men corrupt. They take selfishly and break all they leave behind them. How do I know that you are not any different?” 

 

Patroclus raised his head, and looked in her eyes for the first time since he walked in the door. The question seemed genuine enough, and he thought that his reply should only be as such. “You don't.” 

 

Her eyebrows raised a little at his bluntness. She has, after all, expected him to lie as all men do. She expected him to exaggerate stories of his kindness, or to explain that  _ not all men  _ were as she described. 

 

“But,” Patroclus continued when she failed to respond. “I can show you who I am through my actions. Through how I treat-” 

 

“You think I will just allow you to date my  _ only _ child because you promise that one I  _ might  _ see that you are a good person? Surely you can't be that foolish.” She stopped tapping her nails against the table in favor of leaning in closer to him. 

 

He shrunk under her gaze, but despite his fear he found himself saying “Your daughter is her own person. With- uh- all do respect, ma’am. She choose to date me of her own free will.” 

 

“We all make mistakes.” Thetis returned, her tone cold and dismissive. It torn a visible hole through Patroclus, even she could see that, but he did not yield. 

 

“I understand that you are very protective of her- I understand why- but  _ please  _ understand that I do not mean her any harm.” He remember what she said about  _ “only the guilty appear nervous” _ , and so he sat up straighter. He prayed his voice would not crack again. “I- I love her. I love your daughter.” 

 

Thetis seemed to be somewhat, just maybe slightly, impressed by this reply (or so Patroclus liked to think) as she sat back in her chair. She looked him up and down, impossibly blue eyes burning like the ocean itself, and he somewhat managed to not fold  so visibly under her heavy gaze this time. 

 

“You understand,” she said after a brief and less heavy silence “what she is.” 

 

Oh, he understood. He understood very well. 

He thought back to the first time she told him, shaking but too proud to cry in front of another. He remembered the look of relief she that had taken over her face when he told her he accepted her as she was (and, subsequently, the heartbreak he felt when he thought of the fact that they lived in a world where being such a thing could lead to rejection  _ or worse _ ). He remembered how nervous she had been the first time he saw her without makeup, without padding, and with nothing to hide behind; he remembered the way she kissed him when he told her she was the most beautiful girl in the world, even without all of those things. And, he understood how natural it felt to hold her in his arms and be covered in kisses by her. 

 

“I understand that she is a girl. Through and through.” He pushed the words out slowly, delicately. He want her to understand that he would never judge or hate her for this- for her body and what she was- and that he would only love and accept her. He wanted her to understand that he was not like the men that colored Thetis’ past with tragedy. 

 

She nodded, looking at him with a softness he never she could be capable of. “Then you also understand why I must be so harsh.” 

 

“Of course,” he nodded back. He understood that just as well as he understood his girlfriend. There was much violence in the world, and he saw, now, the desperation that was lurking underneath her frightening exterior. “In all honesty... I would expected nothing less from a woman so dedicated to her child.” 

 

Thetis gave a small smile at this. “I love my daughter more than my own life. I give her everything I possibly can and more. Seeing her hurt would, well, it would not end well for the man who hurt her.” 

 

Patroclus had no idea how to respond, so instead he just gave another curt nod. 

 

Seeing this, Thetis continued. “Very well then, you have earned my permission to date my daughter. For now.” Thetis pushed back from the table and stood up. Patroclus was so happy he thought he felt his heart explode. “She is upstairs in her room.” 

 

Patroclus stood up quickly and opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could find the right words Thetis spoke again. 

  
“Go to her, she is waiting for you.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you liked it. Have a wonderful day <3


End file.
